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Comment by tziki | Hacker News Reader

Doubt it would take off, considering the low adoption rates of "regular" spray toilets in the west. It's a relatively marginal improvement after all.

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Bidet use is accelerating rapidly* in the US. Which doesn't surprise me, really. When I got one, most of my family was surprised. As they tried it out of curiosity, most of them were really happy with how clean they felt, and have gone on to get one for their own homes. I'm sure they have other friends that come over and will experience the same. It's an exponential effect.

(* source: https://www.proremodeler.com/bidets-finally-making-inroads-u... )

Washing one's "back-parts" after they've completed their job feels much more clean to me compared to using toilet paper. Whenever I'm forced to use TP (i.e. when not at home, mostly) I always feel a little dirty after the deed, no matter how much TP I use. I don't have that feeling when using water to clean said back-parts.

If I have taken only one thing away from living in Japan for near-on a decade, it is that the washlet (aka the cyber-bidet) is, quite possibly, mankind's greatest invention.

The predecessor to the above were small squeeze bottles full of water, and you can still buy various versions of these today, which are heaven-on-earth as a wilderness backpacker.

I picked up a travel bidet[1] for backpacking, and it has proven to be one of the best uses of six bucks that I can remember. Weighs in at 50g (~2oz), and not only cuts down on the amount of TP I need to pack in (and out), but it's also been a general lifesaver when traveling.

[1] https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B007ZLB3NA

There are non-electronic bidets that I found worked just as well (you rotated a nob to spray water using just water pressure).

I installed one of these at home. Absolutely superb.

That sounds like a rather... brisk experience in the colder months. I hope you live where the winters are mild!

Hooooly shit I never thought of this for backpacking.

You're a life saver. Accidentally pulling out my shit wipe Ziploc is my least favorite part of backpacking.

Yeah, it's pretty hard to differentiate that from an MRE.

Cost of bidets are coming down a lot with more domestic manufacturers. At $200-300 for a Toto-like attachment I upgraded all of my toilets. It's hard to go back once you are used to it.

Yes. I recently went to Azerbaijan and was amazing at how barbaric we are in the USA with our hard, dry toilet paper :-)

I agree 100%. I purchased bidets as Christmas presents for many family members this past year after a visit to South Korea (where they were the norm in the hotels I visited). I've even found myself telling my neighbors about the advantages of bidets over cocktails (which is kind of weird). I wouldn't want to live without one, and I spread the word.

And what are the advantages of a bidet over a cocktail? Not as sticky, I imagine.

You don't need to pay so much, you can get some that attach under the seat for $30.

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